Sarasota area home prices are dropping as sellers blink

Follow this link to see an article about the drop in Sarasota real estate home prices.

Some of the highlights include:

Sellers have been giving ground on home prices, and during the fourth quarter of 2006 it really showed. The median sales price for a home sold in the Sarasota-Bradenton market was down 18 percent from the same time in 2005.

Sarasota-Bradenton's median price in fourth quarter was $281,500, the Florida Association of Realtors reported on Thursday. The price was $342,700 during the same quarter in 2005.

Another related article shows that homes ales were down in 40 states.

Some of the highlights include:

The slump in housing deepened in the final three months of last year, with sales falling in 40 states and median home prices dropping in nearly half the metropolitan areas surveyed.

Nationally, sales declined by 10.1 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the same period a year ago. The national median price -- the point where half sell for more and half sell for less -- fell to $219,300, down 2.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2005.

In all, median home prices fell in 49 percent of the 149 metropolitan areas surveyed, the largest percentage of areas showing price declines in the 27-year history of the Realtors' price survey.

Real estate markets in Florida and nationally are going through a cleansing and correction phase. There is activity in the Sarasota markets. A quick look at MLS indicates in the Sarasota area that 367 single family homes and 182 condominiums went under contract since January 1. As a percentage of inventory levels these pending numbers are not huge but a large number of properties currently up for sale are priced at the 2005 highs and then some. Properties priced properly will get showings and a fair chance of being sold.